Corporate trainers should take a lesson from teachers (and perhaps little ol’ me) on how to inspire the people they’re teaching. Today, the buzz word in corporate training is “interactive”, but few trainers truly understand the meaning. To many traininers, the concept of “interactive” learning means, “Break into groups of 5 or so and share your thoughts and dreams with regard to baked Ziti.” That’s not interactive… that’s an easy way to spot a trainer who doesn’t have enough content to fill the day! I might be completely dead in the water, but I don’t think that most workshop participants find value in “discussion groups.” Try doing this with a group of 8th graders and they’ll eat you alive.

I hear some fantastic stories from science teachers around the country who have captured the hearts and minds of their students, not by parlour tricks, but with some amazing methods that involve and engage them. Just imagine starting the day off by inviting the class to decide if the regulation bowling ball will float or sink when Maria drops it in the huge aquarium filled with water. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that abowling ball is heavy and it’s sure to sink. Now imagine the looks on the students’ faces when Maria drops the bowling ball in the water and it floats! As they wipe the water from their faces (hey, it was a huge splash!), the questions start flying from all parts of the room. How can a bowling ball float? Is the ball real? Is this a trick? How does the floating bowling ball work? This simple but highly effective approach to learning not only grabs the learner’s attention, but stimulates the participants to want to learn more. Who would have thought that learning about the concept of DENSITY would be so much fun?

Now, when was the last time you heard of a corporate trainer who did that? “Lifelong learning” at the workplace would be a lot more popular if it were a lot more fun!